Prehistoric Medicine: How Archaic Humans Cured Themselves

...In the late 1800s, French physician Ernest Duchesne observed Arab stable boys treating sores with mold growing on saddles. Duchesne took a sample of the fungus, identified it as Penicillium and used it to cure guinea pigs infected with typhoid. Earlier still, texts from ancient civilizations, including Rome, Egypt and China, discussed the healing powers of moldy bread applied to diseased skin.

And prior to written history, there’s reason to believe human ancestors took advantage of many medicinal fungi, plants and other natural agents. The use of natural remedies probably extends back millions of years — long before modern scientists understood the biochemical basis of these medicines.

...One reason to assume early human ancestors used natural substances: The behavior has been documented in many species, from caterpillars to sheep. Animals suffering from a parasite or other malady will deliberately consume substances that are medicinal, but have little or no nutritional value. The substances may even be avoided by healthy individuals and harmful in excess. Yet in small doses, they eliminate or prevent disease.

...In addition to assuming early humans self-medicated because many animals do, researchers have found natural remedies preserved at archaeological sites. Though we cannot know if the substances were deliberately administered for health, their abundance in association with human fossils and artifacts suggests this was the case.

In a 2019 Evolutionary Anthropology paper, archaeologist Karen Hardy analyzed plant species recovered from seven archaeological sites in the Near East, dating between about 8,000 and 790,000 years ago. During this span the region was occupied by Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and earlier forms of human ancestors. Of the 212 plant species identified, around 60 percent were medicinal and edible; they could have been used for food, medicine or both. Another 15 percent were non-edible, but may also have had curative properties in small doses.

In earlier work....

Edmund Burke: "In vain you tell me that Artificial Government is good, but that I fall out only with the Abuse. The Thing! the Thing itself is the Abuse!"

Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.Robert A. Heinlein

How about garlic? Garlic is a natural antibiotic, antifungal and antiviral agent that was used by my ancestors in Europe. When my cousin completed a family tree, he found a relative of ours who was born in 1850 and died in 1956. Back then, from what I understand, people in that region survived by eating fruits and vegetables from their own gardens. Imagine that. Note: I use a little garlic in my cooking every day.